The Hindu Business Line : When banks shut down

Any strike by public sector banks will hit the nation. Owing to their close-to-monopoly status, strikes by PSBs will affect the money market. Banks, on their part, could lose valued customers, especially top companies, which would be weaned away by private banks. The Government should consider whether public sector banks should be made to handle bulk of government work, foreign exchange dealings and clearing work.

T. S. Sundareswaran, New Delhi

There was a strike by SBI staff around this time last year which was not resolved. The demands made for the retired staff were fair. Bank staff cannot be said to be on a paid holiday when they go on strike.

Whenever employees of the organised sector, including banks, railways, postal services, government offices etc., go on strike, it is the public who suffer. Most times, the striking employees even get the strike period regularised as leave. As the Government and the bank unions have time till June to take decisions on the bank staff's demands, regarding pension, compassionate appointments, halting outsourcing of work and filling up vacant posts, it is hoped that confrontations can be avoided.

S. Nallasivan, e-mail

R. Swaminathan, Tiruchirapalli

Bank strikes can be really painful for the common man, particularly for those having only one account.

It is important that all the three parties, the IBA, the Government and the unions, discuss contentious issues rather than allow them to linger on. The economy cannot and should not be held to ransom.

Krithivasan, e-mail

A mechanism must be evolved to sort out and solve problems. The genuine grievances of bank employees are to be looked into. But when public sector banks go on strike, most customers, unlike earlier, look to change over to good private sector banks.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

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